Canada foils Iranian plot to assassinate pro-Israel human rights lawyer

Irwin Cotler is a human rights lawyer, a member of Parliament, and former justice minister in a Liberal government, serving between 2003 and 2006.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF NOVEMBER 18, 2024 18:09 Updated: NOVEMBER 18, 2024 18:11

Irwin Cotler participates in the Organization of American States (OAS) news conference with a panel of independent international experts who will present their conclusions and recommendations on "whether crimes against humanity have been committed in Venezuela, in Washington, US, May 29, 2018. (photo credit: MARY F. CALVERT / REUTERS)

Iran allegedly planned to assassinate Canadian human rights activist Irwin Cotler, but the plot was foiled by Canadian law enforcement, The Globe and Mail reported on Monday. 

A source told The Globe and Mail that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) informed Cotler in October that he faced an immediate threat of assassination from Iranian agents within 48 hours. 

The source said that Canadian authorities knew of two suspects in the plot, but it remains unknown whether they were arrested or fled Canada. 

According to The Globe and Mail, Cotler has been under constant RCMP protection for over a year since the October 7 attacks, as Cotler has been active in condemning Hamas, an Iranian proxy. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service told Cotler that he was a high-profile target of Iran. 

Iran allegedly planned to assassinate human-rights crusader Irwin Cotler https://t.co/paGFVyE4cF

— Globe Politics (@globepolitics) November 18, 2024

RCMP protection included bulletproof vehicles, armed officers, and other security measures meant to protect Cotler. 

Who is Irwin Cotler?

Cotler is a human rights lawyer, a member of Parliament, and former justice minister in a Liberal government, serving between 2003 and 2006.

Since 2008, Cotler has been part of the global campaign to list the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist group, the Globe and Mail reported. He supports Israel and works to counter antisemitism, and has also represented Iranian political prisoners as a human rights lawyer. 

Cotler served as Canada's first special envoy on Holocaust remembrance and combatting antisemitism from 2020-2023, as well as founded and chaired the Raoul Wallenberg Center for Human Rights, the Globe and Mail noted. 

Cotler has been a vocal critic of Iran and other authoritarian governments and has criticized the Islamic Republic's funding of Hamas.